


Fauna

by Rollyzen



Series: "Goretober" 2018- that isn't actually gore [11]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Episode Remix, First Meetings, M/M, Stiles Stilinski Finds Out About Werewolves, Talking Animals, Telepath Stiles Stilinski, Writing Exercise, fauna - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 20:43:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16291436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rollyzen/pseuds/Rollyzen
Summary: Day 11 of October: FaunaStiles can talk to animals telepathically. He finds out there's a wolf in the woods.





	Fauna

It's a thing. It's always been a thing. At sixteen, both he and his dad were desensitized to it. It was also part of the reason his dad didn't want him to own any pets. Stiles was a known chatterbox. So it wasn't weird for him to be out in the woods behind his house. Once the animals understood that you could understand them, it wasn't hard to befriend them. They always came around, considering it a safe place. However, around the time half of some girl's body was found, they were there even more frequently. It was mostly deer, and they were understandably scared. One of the doe, he called her Maria, said there were _wolves, wolves in our meadow._

"A pack?" Stiles had asked.

Even though he _could_ speak to animals, there was a stark difference to the speech patterns between wild animals and domesticated ones. It wasn't that they weren't intelligent; they just couldn't express themselves thoroughly because they haven't picked up language as well. So when he asked about the wolves, he mostly got _danger, alpha, dead wolf, tracker, hunting for us, dangerous wolf._ It was hard to pick apart their scared babble, but it wasn't nearly as bad as trying to listen squirrels. They where the most pretentious animals he's met. They thought they knew English a lot better than they did, but it was all fast, barely coherent sentences. His dad always reminded him that being Dr. Dolittle has its drawbacks.

His favorite animal, a light colored bobcat he named Sasha, told him what he wanted know.

_Two predators. One is tamed. Be wary, Skinwalker. They are of your kind._

Sasha repeatedly called him "Skinwalker" instead of "Stiles" even though he constantly told her that wasn't the right term. How did she even know that word? She was also known to give him off-putting information before laying down and demanding to be pampered. He numbly pet her while he tried to figure out what she meant. Wolves of his kind?

* * *

 His dad welcomed the information right up until Stiles gave it to him.

"Wolves." He said blandly.

Stiles was already shaking his head, "Yeah, I know. Sasha's always trying to help in the most unhelpful way. 'Tamed'? Domesticated wolves? Someone is killing people with their pet wolves? It doesn't make sense with 'they're of your kind'."

"Wait, what?" John looked up from his dinner.

"Oh. She said that, too. It doesn't make sense."

"Son." He said disbelievingly. "A werewolf."

"A were-" Stiles stood abruptly. "YOU'RE RIGHT."

"Volume, please."

He wasn't listening. Stiles paced to the window to look out at the backyard like the answer had been hiding out there.

"Werewolf seems kind of far fetched, but I talk to animals, so I can't really say anything without sounding like a hypocrite. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Like, I seriously can't believe you thought of it before I did, Dad. Um, no offense."

John grunted and ate some more of his food.

"None taken." He replied dryly. "You also realize just because we might have figured it out doesn't mean you can go out there."

It wasn't a question.

Stiles gulped, "Yeah, of course. Who would want to go out there with a big, bad wolf roaming around? _Two_ big, bad wolves. Psh, that's not my scene. I'll be going through the animal grapevine, thank you, sir. Dad. Sheriff."

John raised his eyebrows and gave him a _look_ , "Stiles."

Before the conversation could develop further, he put his plate in the sink and went to his room with the excuse of being tired. John didn't stop him, but he did huff dramatically into his plate. Once in his room, Stiles had the time to plan.

* * *

All in all, it was a pretty shit "plan". It covered zero bases for his personal safety and would possibly fail anyways. Sasha came in through his window later to help him hash it out. She was his dad's least favorite of Stiles' animal pals. They always got into trouble together. However, _she_ knew where the "tamed" wolf was hiding. If Stiles could figure out the identity of the werewolf, they could help them stop the attacks.

On the next night when John was working graveyard, Stiles drove him and Sasha to the Preserve. She sat primly in the backseat and made Stiles grind his teeth while she dug her claws into the seats.

_This is horrible._

"I offered to put a seat belt on you." He grumbled.

They parked outside the gate. Stiles decided to let the bobcat out of his car as quick as possible. She was already heading into the woods before Stiles could grab his flashlight.

* * *

 "You're sure this is the way?"

Sasha hissed at him, and he stopped talking. It was increasingly hard to keep her in the beam of his flashlight. Stiles knew if he lost track of her now he'd be hopelessly lost, but she wouldn't stop darting around. The way his light kept catching on things as he waved it around was creeping him out. The shadows kept moving and all he could hear was the crunching of leaves under his feet. He'd also already run into two spiderwebs.

"Sasha, are we almost there?"

There was no answer.

"Sasha?"

He heard leaves rustling farther up ahead and sped around yet another tree to catch up with her. The beam of light swung up and down as he jogged. Stiles realized as he looked around that what he feared would happen, had just happened.

" _Sasha?_ " He whispered furiously.

He picked up his pace and flashed his light around in a panic. He rounded a group of trees and hit something that stopped him full force. Well, it stopped him from the hips up. His legs kept going and slid out from under him. His back hit the ground with a thud. He jerked his flashlight up and felt his heart stop. A pale face and hollowed sockets looked down at him. He screamed, but it lacked any volume due to the breath being knocked out of him. He scuttled away on the ground, smearing dirt all over his hoodie. The shadows on the face dropped as the light moved and revealed a normal scowl. Compared to the pallid face he thought it was, it was normal.

"What are you doing out here?" The man said darkly.

Stiles clutched his chest dramatically, "Seriously, man? Good lord. The serial killer impersonator asks me why _I'm_ out here."

He rolls his eyes, "This is private property."

"And I'm _privately_ looking for-..uh, something."

He narrowed his eyes, "What are you looking for at one in the morning?"

At that moment, Sasha came padding out of some underbrush.

"Her. I was looking for her."

She gave Derek a wide berth as she made her way to Stiles. Her eyes never left him.

_That's him, Skinwalker. The tamed._

Stiles faltered and looked back up at the man, who had raised both eyebrows at the display.

"You're the wolf?" Stiles blabbed, swinging the flashlight.

His broad shoulders tensed.

"What are _you_? A witch? What do you want?"

Stiles sputtered, "A-? No. I'm not a witch."

 _Skinwalker._ Sasha supplied.

" _No_."

"I just, uh," Stiles continued. "Talk to animals?"

The wolf inclined his head, "And you're here because?"

"Right." Stiles flushed. "My dad's the sheriff so he's dealing with the panic going on because of the animal attacks. Long story short: I talk to the animals a lot, and they're scared. Sasha's my best friend and gave up the information about the wolves that had everybody feeling that way. I crawl to my dad to deliberate. Boom. Werewolves are a thing, and here I am."

"That's nice." He drawled. "But you still didn't say what you wanted."

"Oh. Your help."

At Derek's blank look, he started up again.

"It's just- This is a _supernatural_ problem? Regular police procedure isn't going to cut it. You're- you can help, right?"

"My sister." He said. "It was her body found in the woods."

The tremor in Stiles' hands lessened.

"Oh, you- you're Derek? Derek Hale? I'm so sorry for your loss. That's why you're here, then. To find out what happened to your sister?"

He nodded tersely. Stiles suddenly felt very exposed in-between the trees.

"Well, my dad can help. I mean, assuming it wasn't just a random attack- wrong place, wrong time. Everybody's a bit out of their depth, but they don't know that. It would just be really great if you could..are you listening?"

Derek pulled out his phone while he was talking, the brightness highlighting his face.

"Here. Just put your number in and stop talking."

He held out a sleek, black smartphone, and Stiles snapped his mouth shut to keep his jaw from hitting the floor.

"I knew I was a catch." He said under his breath, taking the phone.

Sasha butted her head against his leg, and he jumped, forgetting she was even here.

"Yeah, yeah. Kudos to you."

Stiles didn't look up to see the curiosity mingling in Derek's eyes. He handed the phone back with a bright smile.

"Get in touch as soon as possible, okay?"

"You know I can still report you to the police for trespassing, right?"

Stiles cleared his throat, "Yeah. Totally. I was just leaving, actually. Really nice talking to you alone in the woods at one in the morning on a Sunday. We should do it again."

He was steadily getting farther away when Derek growled like an animal. Stiles did _not_ make an "eep" sound and _scamper_ off behind Sasha. She seemed very smug for some reason.

_Tame._

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone can totally use this, branch off this, or reinvent this for their own story if they want. Just be sure to cite it as "inspired by" in post. I'd love to see someone do something with this.


End file.
